Just Once, I'd Like to Know
by Insomiak
Summary: When Kai actually starts to head in a good direction with Rei, a certain pick-haired kitten isn't too happy, and does the worst thing to "save" her bestfriend from the Russian. Kai/Rei yaoi.
1. Part One

Just Once, I'd Like to Know.

Part One.

* * *

The Bladebreakers are in China for five reasons, one for each of its members. First, the ever beloved-yet-hated-but-mostly-beloved-blue-haired-bottomless-pit know as Takao. He's here for the food. Simple. Second, Max. He's telling everyone that he's here to see his mother, who is working in China for the Spring. And certainly he is excited to see her, but he's actually here for Takao. Not as simple. Third, Mister Nerdatron himself, Kenny, is here for an illegal upgrade for Dizzi, as promised by Rei, who is here to see Lee and Mariah.

And Kai's here to get away from the fangirls. Not that there aren't any in China, but they don't know he's here and they will not fucking find him.

Basically, the team is on vacation. They are, however, still on contract until next Fall, so they need to do so together. And since everyone is here and Kai Hiwatari is an abusive captain, a workaholic, and a complete asshole, they're training.

Said slave driver stomps down the oak stairs with his typical 'doesn't give a shit' guise wafting out from his person like heat wafts from an oven. He's perfected the appearance of 'badass Russian with a complete lack of concern for anyone or anything that isn't himself or doesn't have to do with himself' to the point where it literally encompasses whatever room he's in. At least, he likes to think so. Really the only difference his team-mates have noticed over the years is that he's become more well-rounded, and will occasionally admit to being acquainted with them in public.

The fantastic smell of bacon, eggs, toast, and pancakes smothered in hot butter and sweet syrup fills his nose as he descends from the upper floor, where all the bedrooms are, and enters the kitchen. His eyes are hardly opened because, while he's usually a morning person, he hadn't wanted to get out of bed on this particular one. He doesn't understand why. He just feels like something isn't right. Regardless, he doesn't need to have his eyes open to know that Max is cooking. Takao's too lazy despite his adoration for food, Kenny can't, and even without these facts, Max, by popular demand, always cooks breakfast. Kai very, very secretly enjoys at least one aspect about each of his team-mates, and for Max, it's his innate ability to make food that, when eaten, feels like it's having hot, dirty sex with every single one of his taste buds.

"Good morning, Kai," Kenny says, lifting his head away from his laptop and smiling. "Max made breakfast."

Kai sits at the table and yawns. "Really?"

A scoff is heard to his left. "You'll never know how much we _missed _your sarcasm, oh bitchy one." Takao shoves half a pancake between his lips, syrup dripping down his chin. "Or should I say Bitchzilla? Mister-Mc-Bitchesworth? Bitcharella? What do you like more?"

Kai's about to ask what's eating at Takao, but Max answers, beating eggs at the counter and saving the Russian some of his daily-allotted words. "Ignore him, Kai. He's just pissed because the dishwasher broke and I volunteered him to take its place."

"It's not fair!" Takao folds his arms, giving Max the cold-shoulder. "_I _didn't break it. So why do _I_ have to do it's job?"

Ignoring the usual light bickering that Max and Takao go threw lately, Kai blinks his eyes fully opened. The first thing he sees is a box of milk. Oh.

"Well maybe if _you _didn't snore all night _I _wou–"

"Where's Rei?" The red eyed blader cuts in, forgetting that he's suppose to be portraying the image of 'badass Russian with a complete lack of concern for anyone or anything that isn't himself or doesn't have to do with himself,' because he's been around thee guys for nearly five years. He just sort of neglects his hard exterior sometimes. Barely ever, though, so he's not worried. It's not like they even notice. Right? Wait. _Do _they notice? Kai's going to have to start being more of a jerk. Or a 'sourpuss,' as one-currently-not-present team-mate puts it.

Takao snorts. "He skipped out on practice again." The bluenette digs into his pocket and hands Kai a torn piece of yellow paper. "He left a note."

Kai reads it:

_Went to visit Lee! Back by six._

_Rei._

"Why does _he _get to go hang out with Lee in town while we're stuck here, in the middle of freaking nowhere, in this little cabin, training our faces off–"

"Takao, would you stop complaining?" Kenny says, typing away. "Lee is Rei's best friend and Rei hasn't been home in nearly a year. We've got more than six weeks to train before the tournament, so relax."

"But that's just it!" He shoves a slice of toast into his mouth, chewing with enough intensity to shatter his teeth. "We're not even suppose to be training! We're suppose to be kicking it back at a nice hotel on a nice, sunny beach with beautiful women and food. But no. _Oh no_. Mister Bitchasaurous Rex has to keep us..."

Kai stops listening. He's good at it. Instead, he thinks. He's not sure how he feels about Rei skipping practices. This is the third time. And of course Rei's allowed to do whatever he wants, but the fact remains that the less he practices, the worse his blading is going to get. The worse his blading gets, the less the team wins, and the more pissed off Kai becomes. However the team leader feels about Rei playing hookey, though, has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he is probably also spending his time with Mariah, the pink heathen from Hades, because Kai doesn't care that Rei has a girlfriend. Not one bit.

* * *

It's seven-oh-three in the morning, and Rei and Lee are trucking down one of the back streets of Taiyuan, a city which is a three hour bus ride from Rei's cabin and a two hour bus ride from Lee's house The sunrise is hitting their backs through what few spaces aren't occupied by buildings. Rei's been going on about beyblading, family, and their village for the past thirty minutes, and Lee's confused. Rei's never been one to ramble, not like this, and definitely not to to Lee. Rambling is something Rei only does when he's nervous, and Lee can't think of any reason for Rei to be nervous, especially around him. Except for one thing. And Lee's not entirely sure if he's ready to talk about it, but he thinks Rei needs to.

Lee stops in the middle of a busy street, the sound of people talking, buying, selling, eating, and generally being people surrounds them. Rei discontinues going on about how he needs a new launcher and looks at his friend.

"Why'd you stop?"

Lee stares at him. "What was it you wanted to tell me yesterday?"

Rei tenses, and tries to laugh it off, bright golden eyes shining with complete fear in the sunlight. "Aha, you know, nothing."

"Uh huh." The other boy folds his arms. "You've been acting funny all morning. And yesterday you were about to tell me something, but your bus came."

"What's your point?" Rei asks, not looking him in the face. People on the street are giving them annoyed glares for standing in the middle of it.

"You don't need to be babied, Rei." He smacks the other boy across the head, mostly lightly. "If something's wrong just tell me. Or go do something about it, because you're not fun to be around when you're like this."

The nekojin is hardly ever ashamed of anything, and he knows he shouldn't be about this, not even around Lee, but he hangs his head anyway. The first part is easy. "I don't love Mariah anymore."

Lee laughs a little. "Is that all? I already kn–"

"No."

The second part is a lot harder.

"I'm..." Oh god. How is he suppose to do this? He should've done it a long time ago, but he kept telling himself that Lee would take it better in a few years. Just one more year, after year, after year, and now Lee knows something's up. Rei's backed into a corner. He hates being backed into a corner. He needs a way out, a second opinion, another decision to make because there is no way he can tell Lee that he's gay. And after Lee, he'll have to tell Mariah; unless he's lucky and Lee hates him enough to go tell Mariah himself. Then they can both go hate him together.

"Lee, I can't..." Rei takes a deep breath. "Maybe we should go sit somewhere."

"No." He places a firm hand on Rei's shoulder. "You're always looking for another way to do something. It's great most of the time, but right now, you need to just tell me."

Rei looks over into green eyes. They're not judging him. They only ever had once, and they never would again. "Okay."

Lee moves his hand back to his side. "Okay?"

"Yeah." Rei takes another deep breath, tells himself to strap on a pair because he needs to get this off his chest, and says, "I like someone else."

"And?"

"It's not your sister."

"You already said that."

"It's not _anyone's _sister."

"Okay..."

"It's..." Rei looks down. "It's not even a girl."

Lee smiles, holding back a laugh. "Rei, for the love of god, just say it."

"I–" Rei feels his breath hitch. "I'm–"

"Yes?"

And he lets it go. "I'm gay."

A short pause. Rei keeps his eyes glued to the grass around his feet.

"Really now?" Lee finally lets out a small laugh. "And you didn't think I noticed?"

Rei's head snaps up quickly, staring wide eyed. "What?"

"I'm your best friend." A warm breeze flickers over them. "Of course I knew." Lee scratches his head. "I mean, it'd taken me a while to get used to the idea. It's not like we grew up around it, so..."

Rei can't stop staring. "You knew?"

"Yup."

"And you didn't _tell _me?"

"Nope."

"And it doesn't bother you that I'd rather have another guy's d–"

"It doesn't bother me, but I still don't want to hear it," Lee says, covering his ears and making a face like he'd just swallowed rotten tuna. "Kind of like how I didn't want to hear about you making out with my sister."

Rei wonders if his knees are going to give out. "I can't believe you knew and didn't tell me. Do you have any idea how stressed I've been about you finding out?"

"Not as stressed as you are about Mariah finding out."

"No." Rei shakes his head. "Not even close."

Actually, he was much more worried about Lee — or what Lee would think of him, anyway. Rei could definitely handle Mariah judging him and never talking to him again, but he's not sure what he'd do without Lee. His opinion matters more to Rei than Mariah's friendship; meaning that Rei would rather Mariah hate him forever than Lee judge him for a second. The fact remains, however, the he's scared to tell her because he's going to end up hurting her, and he doesn't want anyone to feel hurt because of something he can't change.

"But she had better find out soon. You're my best friend no matter what, Rei, but I can't let you lie to my little sister."

He shakes his head. "I know. I'll tell her tonight."

Lee nods.

"But anyway, onto something I don't know..." The captain of the White Tigers grins wickedly at Rei. "Who's the poor bastard?"

Rei understands exactly what Lee's talking about. Having expected this to turn out much worse and being used to keeping his deeper thoughts to himself, however, he still feels the need to hide from his best friend. "What d'you mean?"

The green haired blader rolls his eyes, conversation getting a little too juvenile for his taste. "You know what I mean."

Rei sighs, telling himself to calm down. Lee doesn't care. He really doesn't give a damn. Rei's been beating himself over the head woth worry for his entire life because he thought for sure that Lee would saw his neck in half with Galoen if he ever found out, but Lee doesn't care. Hell, he already knew. He'd known for a long time, and he'd been waiting for Rei to just say it all these years. And now he's asking for the identy of the 'poor bastard' Rei has fallen for.

Wait a second.

"How do you know I even like anyone?" The raven haired boy asks, blocking the rising sun from his eyes.

Lee shrugs and says, "I'm clairvoyant."

"Oh of course." Rei begins walking again, wanting to get to the Fifth District before noon. "You already know who it is, don't you?"

Lee walks beside him, grinning. "Maybe."

"Bastard."

"Just tell me."

"But you already know!"

"That's not the point." Lee shoves his hands into his pockets and stares at the crowd walking in front of them. "I knew you were gay too, but I also knew that you needed to tell me." He smiles at the younger boy. "So, who is the poor bastard?"

Defeated and already well past the hard part, Rei gives. He looks to his left and mumbles, "Kai."

Another short pause. The people around them fill the silence with the low sounds of chatter and footsteps.

Lee gapes at his best friend. "_What_?"

"Kai."

"_Kai_?"

"Yes."

"As in the guy with the funny hair?"

"Yes."

"As in your captain?"

"Yes."

"As in the biggest asshole in the blading world?"

"Yes."

"As in _the guy from Russia who stole all our bitbeasts_?"

"Yes..."

"After betraying your team?"

"Yes!"

"Oh." Lee thinks for a minute, thoroughly surprised. For whatever reason, the idea that Rei might like Kai never crossed his mind — though everyone else did. Himself, Takao, Max, Kenny, Tala, Takao's father, _everyone_. He had eventually come to the conclusion that it must be Max, because the blond is so obviously 'that way' that it just _had _to be him. Lee couldn't look at the situation any differently. It never crossed his mind that a gay guy could fall for a straight guy, though he admits that it should have. Growing up cut off from the rest of the world has given him a large disadvantage in the whole Open Minded section of his soul, but he's working on it.

Still, _Kai_? Lee had always figured Rei would go after someone nicer, or at the very least sane, but no. Kai, however, is definitely no sweetheart, and while insane might be stretching it, he definitely has his moments of mental instability. Not that it really bother's Lee or anything. It's not like he knows Kai really well, anyway. There must be _something _to like about him. Maybe.

"Who did you think it was?" Rei asks, unsure whether he should laugh or run like hell in the opposite direction.

Lee shakes his head, a little rattled. "Max."

"Max?"

"Yeah."

"Huh." Rei looks up at a bird that flies over their heads. "Not really my type."

Lee looks up also. "Apparently." Then asks, "Does he wake up every morning and paint those blue triangles on his face, or are they tattoos? Because if he does, there's probably a good chance he's into guys too."

Rei punches his friend lightly in the arm, laughing.

Six feet behind them, hiding behind a tree, is a very pissed off pink little kitten.

* * *

Upon hearing that the Bladebreakers are in China, Emily, staying in Beijing with Max's mother, decided to pay them a visit. She had boarded the first available private jet and had herself flown deep into the mountains. She's three seconds from knocking on the front door of their wooden cabin, but she stops, hearing something interesting.

" –to talk about it?" Clearly Max.

"Nothing to talk about." And clearly Kai.

"You might be able to fool everyone else, but I know y–"

"I don't like him."

"You can't even say his name!"

Ohh. Kai _likes _someone? This could be worth thousands if she sells to the right tabloids! Oh lucky day. Grinning like a mad woman, she peeks into the window of the front door. Kai is doing the dishes, something Emily would never have bet her life on, and Max is sitting at the table.

"Fine." The Russian stops scrubbing, seeming uneasy. Emily can see his face perfectly from where she is, and he looks shaken. Well, shaken by Kai-standers, anyway. He just seems less aware of what he's saying. "I do not like Rei Kon."

"Come on, Kai. Stop lying. None of us care, you know that." The American pouts. "Rei wouldn't mind either. He might even–"

"Shut up, Max."

"But–"

"Stop." Emily watches dark lines draw under his red eyes. She's never seen him look so tired. "Just... stop."

So the cold-hearted bastard has fallen for his fellow team mate. And the stable, stubborn, spacey one at that. What happens, exactly, when you mix self-delegation with commitment issues? Calm radiance with rabid terror? Endless tranquility with eternal rage? Evident obliviousness with constant awareness? As much as Emily would like to stick around to find out, these two are very good friends of hers, and thus deserve some privacy.

So, she runs back to the jet. Someone else is a good friend of hers and _totally _needs to hear this!

* * *

Huh? Huuuh? =D I'm such a nerd. I can't believe I'm writing Beyblade fanfiction! (giggles). I rewatched the first season to de-stress my brain and... _this _happened. I'm writing this for fun, so don't expect it to do justice to the English language; but do tell me if I eff something up really bad =]

Review!

Inso.


	2. Part Two

Part Two.

* * *

Max lays his head on his arms, staring at the back of Kai's head. They'd been given kitchen-duty because Takao had, the second breakfast was throroughly shoved down his throat, snuck out with the Chief to try and catch the last bus into town, thoroughly destroying any ideas of training. Max is only a little hurt that they left without him, but he didn't really want to watch Takao oogle over a bunch of Chinese women all afternoon anyway.

That, and he's pretty sure Kai needs someone to talk to.

"I've been watching you do this to yourself ever since the first World Tournament. I'm a very patient person, Kai, you know that, but I'm getting tired of watching you lie about how you feel." He blows some of his hair away from his face. "And if I'm getting tired of it, you must be just about ready to jump off the back deck." The blond smiles at him, even though the Russian isn't looking. "Just tell him. Lying is never the way to go, man."

"There's nothing to tell." Kai's fingers fumble with a wet, soapy glass. "I'm not lying."

"Uh huh." Max looks up at the light hanging over the kitchen table. He's glad he has Kai to bother, or he'd be up in his room, studying for his entrance exams and feeling more like shit than he already does.

"I really couldn't care less about what you think," Kai says and accidentally drops the glass into the sink, a loud _plop _spraying water into his eyes.

Max smiles at the ceiling. "Sure."

Sighing, annoyed at himself for being this weak and pathetic and transparent, Kai wipes water off his face, careful not to smudge his triangles. He pulls the plug out of the sink, dries his hands on the towel hanging over the edge of the counter, and leans on it, facing Max.

"Max, I..." He can't believe he's doing this. "I just got used to being friends with all of you."

"Yeah, like four years ago."

Kai closes his eyes, trying to relax. He reminds himself that this is Max, the same Max that's been around for five years, that it's okay to drop his walls. But he just can't, not when it comes to Rei.

"I don't like him."

Max rolls his bright blue eyes. "Whatever, Captain."

* * *

Pissed off, but not worried, Mariah stares at her brother and future husband. She'd followed them here on the second run of the same bus they'd taken into town, and was just about to make herself known when Lee had asked, _What was it you wanted to tell me yesterday?_ Then she proceeded to find out that not only does her future husband seem to think he likes men, but he thinks he likes the worst one out there! Poor Rei. Kai must have really done something terrible to confuse her little nekojin this much. She'd never liked the Russian, espially afdter he'd taken Galax from her, and this is just more proof of what an asshole he is.

But, she's not worried. Rei's just confused and Kai obviously doesn't like him anyway, or men at all. Hell, he doesn't even like people! He's just a stingy bastard who's bored and needs something to play with, and is picking on her poor little kitten for fun. Not that it matters, though, because Rei doesn't really like him, he just thinks he does. He'll probably try to tell Kai becuase he's brave like that. He will, however, get brutally rejected and finally realise that she's been the one for him all these years! So take _that_, Kai.

Her cell rings, and she picks it up.

"Mariah!" A voice that makes her see red instantly cries.

"Emily? What–"

The American seems to be out of breath. "No time. Big news!" She coughs a little. "You... you know Kai?"

"Yeah."

"He's _gay_!"

Mariah feels the blood leave her face.

"And you know who he _likes_?"

Biting her pink lip, Mariah asks, "Who?"

"Rei!" Emily shouts. She takes a deep breath afterwords, relaxing now that she's gotten it all out. "I figured you'd want to know since he's your boyfriend or something, right? Anyway, I over heard Max and Kai talking about it. Kai seemed really upset. Poor guy. He's got some real emotional problems still, huh? Don't tell anyone I told you, okay?"

Extra pissed off and now a little worried, Mariah glares at nothing in particular. "Where are you?"

"In a plain. Why?"

Her glare fades into a wicked grin.

"Perfect. I need your help."

* * *

All of these parts are short... :]

Review please~

Inso.


	3. Part Three

Part Three.

* * *

Kai looks up at the clock in the living room for the thirtieth time in the past three hours. He's not worried, just concerned. Rei said he'd be home by six, and it's nearly nine. Kai's concern is, of course, for Rei's training, and has nothing to do with the fact that Rei could be anywhere with anyone doing anything. Sure. The Russian tries to ignore the clock, but looks again anyway.

Shit.

Where _is _he? Why does Kai care so much? Why can't Rei just be home so he doesn't have to care at all? Except that he would care, but he'd at least be able to hide it! Right now he feels like his world is inside out. He can't get a grip on the fact that nothing's wrong, that Rei's just out late. Everything is fine. The world isn't going to end just because Rei Kon isn't within two feet of him. Really. And even if it does end, it will have nothing to do with the nekojin's current location. So why can't he stop thinking about it?

"Leave me alone!" He hears Max shout from upstairs, the slam of a door following. Looks like he and Takao are having another one of their generic, old-married-couple spats.

"Aw, come on Maxie, let–"

"Don't call me that!"

"What the hell is your problem, dude?"

Kai blocks out the rest. He's starting to get angry. He isn't allowed to separate from his teammates due to the six-moth contract they sign every Fall, and they're starting to drive him crazy. He's willing to admit that he enjoys their company, even that they're his friends, but Kai needs his alone time.

And where the fuck is Rei? The Russian's going crazy, missing the way he smells. And he's mad that he misses anything about anyone! When the hell did he get so soft? Sure, he isn't the anti-social-bastard-born-from-the-devil's-loins that he used to be before he joined the team, but that doesn't mean he has to have all these ridiculous thoughts. Rei can take care of himself; he'll be fine. But no matter how many times he drives that into his head, Kai can't accept it, and he doesn't like having all these fucking emotions. So that _glupyj kotenok _better get the hell home before Dranzer starts rippin' shit up!

Oh god.

"Hello?"

Kai stops himself from leaping off the couch and running into the kitchen at the sound of Rei's voice. Instead, he stands up slowly and _walks _into the kitchen, calm and steady.

"Hi Rei! Nice to see you. How was your day? I bet it wasn't nearly as good as mine," Takao, who is sitting at the table stuffing his face, greets with a note of sourness. "Our bus broke down and I had to climb three mountains to get back. That's right, _three_." Silence. "_Mountains_."

Rei grins. "That's what you get for skipping out on practice."

"Hell of a lot that means comin' from you."

The black haired boy laughs. "Wait a second, I think I might've brought a peace offering with me..." Rei pulls something out from behind his back. A box of cookies. "Yup." He tosses the box at Takao.

The bluenette hugs the cookies to chest. "Oh dude, you _rock _Rei."

Kai feels his head spin when the black haired boy smiles; he must be tired. "Am I forgiven?"

"Completely and entirely," Takao replies, ripping the box open. "Though I think you might have a harder time with the rest of the team." He looks up at Rei, eyes darker.

Rei, sensing that Takao needs to talk about something and wanting to avoid the Russian in the corner as much as possible, sits down. "What d'you mean?"

"It's just..." Takao groans. "Max is being all moody again. He's mad at me and I didn't even do anything!"

"Well..." Rei reaches over and takes a cookie. "Did you ask him what was wrong?"

Takao withers and slams his head against the table, leaving it there. "He wouldn't talk to me. He just kept telling me to go away."

"Did you do anything to piss him off?"

"I hardly even spoke to him today!"

Rei inwardly rolls his eyes. "Maybe that's the problem, Takao."

"What?" Like usual, the Japanese boy looks as stupid as a rhino in a tutu doing the samba.

Rei speaks slowly, praying some of it actually makes it into Takao's skull. "Look, Max is our youngest member. He's also self-conscious about being half American." He places his head in his left hand, resting his elbow on the table. "So when you ditch practice without him, he feels left out."

Takao lifts his head up. "But why doesn't he just _say _something instead of being a whiney bitch about it?"

Ever since Max first told Kai he knew how the Russian felt about a certain Chinese boy, Kai has had a soft spot for him. The blond is the only person to ever pick up on it. And while it completely freaks Kai out to have someone know, it's also nice to have someone to talk to. If you can call it talking, anyway. Usually Max insists that Kai tell Rei, and Kai insists that there's nothing to tell — but it's still nice to hear it. So the Russian can't help himself. He explodes at Takao.

"Because not everyone has your unfortunate ability to say every little idiotic thing that crosses their mind." Well, as much as Kai can explode, anyway. "If anyone's a 'whiney bitch,' it's you."

The bluenette rises, his chair almost falling over behind him. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"Yeah? Well, you're –"

"Takao." Rei puts a hand over his mouth, shutting him up. "Stop it." He looks over at Kai, trying to figure out if he looks angry or sleepy. "We've been on the road for almost three months now, so we're getting a little tired. It happens every year." Rei takes his hand off of Takao's mouth, and looks at him. "Max's door isn't locked. Just walk in, sit down, and talk to him instead of moping in the kitchen."

Takao knows that's what he needs to do. But it's just so hard, for whatever reason, to talk to Max. He's afraid of making it worse. Of hurting Max more. Of noticing that he's actually kind of exciting to be around, for a guy anyway.

"Go," Kai says, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

Takao grins. "Well if Mister Team Captain says so..."

And he's gone.

Which leaves Rei and Kai alone.

Which is what they both don't want at the moment, because they're both kind of scared of the other.

Rei hides his head in his arms. "I'm sorry I skipped again today." Kai opens his eyes, watching Rei's back. "I needed to talk to Lee." The Russian doesn't reply. This means that he's either not listening, or really, really, really mad. Hence, Rei feels the need to explain himself. "It's not that I don't trust you guys enough to talk to you about it, but I don't think they're ready to hear it, and Lee's my best friend, I had to tell him, not that I don't like you guys because of course I like you guys it's just that, that, that it's something I'm not exactly ready for you to–"

"Rei." The nekojin loves it when Kai says his name. He feels one sharp, chilling shiver dance down his spine. "It's fine."

"No it's not, but..." He stands up, smiling at Kai. "I'll make it up to you."

Kai smirks. "Really?"

Rei smirks back. "Of course."

"How?"

Um... did this conversation just get flirtatious, or has Rei gone batshit crazy?

"Well..." The nekojin folds his arms. "I could start with turning the heater off tonight, since you always complain about it being too hot in our room." Kai wishes it was always too hot in their room for a different reason other than that stupid heater. "Or leaving you some hot water in the morning." Kai can think of another way to ensure himself hot shower in the morning, and it does _not _involve Rei leaving the bathroom. Bedies, the only reason Rei takes so long in the shower is because of his hair, and Kai likes his hair, so he doesn't mind. "Or, if you want, I can sleep on the couch and you can have the room to yourself tonight."

Now _that _sounds nice. "Okay."

Rei looks over at him. "Okay for which one?"

"The couch."

The nekojin feels his heart crash to his toes. He'd gone to Mariah's place for dinner, meaning to tell her everything. But when he got there she'd been cooking, smiling at him, saying him how happy she is to see him, how lucky she is to have such a close friend, how much she cares about him, worries about him, thinks about him — so Rei hadn't. Instead, he asked what to do about Kai: 'What should I do, Mariah? He's gonna be some pissed off when I show up three hours late.' She suggested giving him the room to himself. 'He likes being alone, right?' Rei had been hopping that Kai would reject the offer, but that's what he gets for being too afraid to tell the truth, he guesses.

Hiding his misery with a smile, ignoring the hammering his heart is getting, Rei stands up. "Alright, that's easy enough. I'll go get my stuff."

Kai nods.

* * *

Mariah resists the urge to giggle to herself, watching the two boys in the kitchen. Her plan is working perfectly! Well, almost. Emily's not here yet, but she trusts the geeky girl, sort of. She trusts that Emily doesn't want Kai with Rei anymore than Mariah does, anyway. So she'll be here. Until then, she has to wait.

But what an amazing plan it is! She can't believe how quickly she thought of it! Rei will come running back to her for sure, and everything will go back to the way it's suppose to be. Mariah doesn't have a problem with homosexuality; she doesn't really care, love is love and all that. But Rei isn't gay. He's her little kitten. They belong together. He can't be gay. And even if he was, he wouldn't like Kai. Rei's so sweet, and nice, and considerate, and a good person — Kai's a stuck up jerk without a heart. They're so wrong for each other.

She knows everything about Rei, and it's her duty as his future wife to steer him in the right direction.

* * *

Hope you're having fun reading it!

Inso. :]


	4. Part Four

Part Four.

* * *

Kai looks over at the digital clock on the night stand. It reads **3:13 AM **in big, bright-red letters.

Dammit.

He'd been so sure that if Rei wasn't in he room, he'd have no problem not thinking about him. But no. Oh no. The fucking kitten is still on his mind. Kai has spent more than one night shouting at his libido to forget the fact that Rei is in his bed, topless, and let him get some fucking sleep. The usual message it sends back to him goes as follows: 'No, sorry Kai, your lack of a sex life has caused me to turn on you, so you can just stay up all fucking night and think about Rei Kon, and even if you do manage to fall asleep I'll just make you dream about him anyway, so ha–ha–_ha_!'

Thus, Kai doesn't sleep much when sharing a bed with Rei. So, when the Chinese boy had offered to sleep on the couch, Kai had nearly done a back flip, assuming that he'd finally have a nice, relaxing, full night of rest.

'Ahaha, yeah _right_!' His libido laughs. It's got one vindictive personality for a subconscious being. 'Just think, Kai. He's probably jerking-off and screaming your name right now, all hot and sweaty in front of a roaring fire...'

See? _See_? This is why Kai can't sleep! His own libido is out to get him. Yes, Rei probably put a fire on before went to bed because he likes heat, but there's no way he's masturbating. Not that he's some kind of perfect celibate angel, but he _is _very polite, intuitively hygienic, and a little shy. He's not about to passionately enjoy himself on the couch in the living room.

'But what if he just can't _help _it...'

Kai rolls over and drives his face into his pillow, trying to drown out his subconscious. His shoulder blades are sticking up a bit, back arched, and the blankets are sliding down towards his hips.

'And shoves his hands down his pants, body shaking...'

He turns his head to glance at the alarm clock. **3:21 AM**. Shit.

'Throws himself onto his back, shuts his eyes...'

The Russian tries to think about monotonous things. Coffee, window shopping, table lamps, socks...

'Spreads his legs and starts pu–'

„_Otva`li_!" Kai rips the square alarm clock from its socket, snapping the chord in half, and biffs it across the room. It smashes against the wall with a plasticy _thunk_, crumbling to the floor in bits.

He puts his head in in hands, still laying on his stomach, heart thudding against his rib cage. „_Chyort voz'mi_..."

* * *

Emily are Mariah are sitting in the Beybreaker's kitchen at three-twenty-one in the morning when they hear a quick _crash_.

The bruenette jumps and looks at Mariah. "What was that?" She asks quietly.

"Takao probably fell out of bed." The Chinese girl shrugs. "Rei says he does that a lot."

Emily nods. "Are you sure about this? I've read up on your villaige. I thought he wasn't suppose to have it done until after he's married."

"After he's met his mate, actually," Mariah says, taking the small package from the other girl. "And since he's already met me, it's fine."

"Oh... interesting." The brunette smiles and pulls out her cell. "I'll go guard the hallway, then. If anyone wakes up, I'll let you know."

"Perfect."

The pink haired girl slinks off into the lving room of the cabin, tearing the package open, silent as her footsepts. She feels a little bad about what she's going to do, but Rei has already met his mate, and it's for his own benifit — so it's okay. He'll thank her one day.

Luckily, the nekojin is laying on his stomach, long, white-wrapped hair hanging over the side of the couch, when she walks in.

Then her cell vibrates against her hip. Eyes snaping opne, she scurries over Rei's body and behind the couch, breathing shallow.

A few second later, the Beybreakers' team captain walks into the room, eyes dark and looking extraordinarily sleepy. It's a look Mariah's never seen on his face before; defeat, dejection, resentment, but the second he glances at Rei sleeping peacefully in front of the fire, his face softens. As soft as Kai gets, anyway. He still looks like a grump, but his red eyes do get lighter, face relaxing.

Regardless, knowing how the Russian feels about her kitten and seeing him look at Rei so... _affectionatly_,by Kai-standerds anyway, pisses her off. When is he going to get it through his thick Russian skull that Rei Kon belongs to _her _and would never, ever, not in a thousand-million years, not even if someone threatened to take away Drigger _again_, not even if someone held a gun to his head, not even if he _were _gay and Kai was the last person on the planet, ever, ever, _never really like_–

"Mmm, Kai..." The nekojin mumbles in his sleep, grinning like a fool.

Mariah seeths.

Kai's red eyes snap wide open.

Rei then begins mumbeling the rest in Mandarin, which Kai can't understand. Mariah, however, comrephends her native tongue rather pefectly, and continues to glare at Kai from behind the couch, no longer caring if he sees her.

「_Wo yao ni_...」

The pink haired blader feels her blood run hot. Rei should be saying things like that about her! Kai must have him really confused if her kitten's dreaming about him, that sneaky Russian. Another big reason Rei can't really like Kai is the giant gaping cultural difference. Russia and China don't have much in common other than size*, and while both boys are fluent in Japanese, neither can speak the other's native tongue! You can't be with someone who doesn't speak your language! It's impossible. Mariah knows that Rei is her's, and by tomorrow morning, he'll know it too.

Kai, however, doesn't leave for another ten minutes. He just stands there, staring. Mariah thinks its kind of creepy. And when he does finally leave, she makes sure to snatch his cellphone out of his pocket and place it on the floor where the nekojin's sure to see it. She grins wickedly as Kai stomps back up the stairs and closes his bedroom door.

Then, smiling, she climbs back over the couch, wrapping a hand around Rei's ponytail.

The Kon family have a tradition that they've passed down for many years, one that Maraih always thought was a bit strange. No one in their family is to cut their hair until they've picked a mate. When he was younger, Rei used to complain to her about how annoying long hair was, about how stupid the tradition was, that hair doesn't have anything to do with falling in love. But ever since his parents died, he's made sure to keep it long. He's never cut it, not an inch, and he never complains.

Mariah knows how much this tradition means to her kitten, and how pissed off he's going to be when he wakes up and finds his tail gone. She also knows, however, that it's not going to be _her _he's pissed at.

"Sorry Rei..." She whispers. "But it's for your own good."

And with a prickly _vriiip!_, she snips his hair off.

* * *

Rei's ponytail D: Nooo!!

Thank my friend Borodovski for the Russian.

_Wo yao ni _= I want you.

Teehee. ;]


	5. Part Five

Part Five.

* * *

The sun blasts its heavenly light into the living room as it leaps over the horizin, brightly destroying any hopes the nekojin has of sleeping in. He can, however, continue to lay here until the rest of the team wakes up. So, yawning, he shoves the blankets down to his hips, letting his bare back soak up the sun's rays. God he loves heat. He doesn't understand how anyone can't love being warm. Kai must be crazy or something.

Oh, right.

Kai.

"I wonder if he's still mad..." Rei mumbles, rubbing his eyes. Oh well. Who cares if he's mad? Fuck Kai. Sure, he shouldn't have skipped out on practice for the third time in a row, but he needed to talk to Lee. Kai can take his training schedule and shove it.

Head feeling a little light, Rei sits up, yawning again. He stretches, one thought formost in his head: shower. And beeing too anxious to stay in bed because of a certain blue-and-grey-haird-blader, he stands up. He's about to head for the stairs, but his toes land on something cold.

Looking down and wrapping a blanket around his naked torso, he spots Kai's cellphone. Assuming that he must have dragged it down here last night with the blankets, or that Kai dropped it, or Takao had felt like being a douchebag to their captain, Rei doesn't think much of it. He just picks it up and sets it on the table, and walks up the stairs.

He meets Max in the hallway. "Hey Max."

"Morning Rei!" Max says a little louder then he needs to, skin glowing. His hair's wet. "Shower's free."

The darker haired boy nods. "Thanks."

He enteres the bathroom, which is warm from Max's privious use of it.

And now for the most annoying part of his wake up ritual: his hair. Rei reaches back to grab his pony tail. Whether wrapping it or unwrapping it, the white band always gets tangled and knotted and–

What?

He grabs for it again, but his hand touches nothing but air.

What the _fuck_?

He spins in a circle, looking for it and panicing. Where the hell is his ponytail? Why isn't it attached to the rest of his hair? What kind of fucked up joke is this? Dread clouds Rei's entire body, like he'd just missed a flight, left the oven on and forgot to wake Takao up before a match all in one day. Who would do this to him? It had to be one of his teammates, which makes it so much worse because Rei's told them about the tradition, about why he keeps his hair long. But which one of them would hate him enough to–

_Kai_.

* * *

It had taken one busted alarm clock, one cold shower, and fifty minutes for Kai to fall asleep. But he had. And yes, just like his libido promised, he'd dreamt of Rei. A very wet, beautiful, naked Rei, which is why the southern half of his body is in a particulay perky mood this morning.

Kai feels like putting his head through a wall.

The sun's barely up, so he probably only slept three hours or so. Sighing, he begins to throw the blankets off him, when someone barges into the room.

The someone is the certain Chinese boy Kai has a certain hard-on for, and before he really knows what's going on, Rei is stradeling his hips. Which is just fine — more than fine, actually — except the nekojin also has his shoulder drawn back, hand fifsted, and looks like a cat whose tail just got snipped off.

"You–!" Rei punches to Kai's left, who catches the fist in an open palm. "_Asshole_!" The nekojin uses his other hand, but Kai also catches that, now holding both of Rei's fists.

"Rei, wha–"

"Shut up! I don't fucking want to _hear _it." Rei glares down at the Russain with two livid golden eyes. "Mariah's right. You're just as mean as you were the day I met you! I skipp practice becase I need to talk to my _best friend _about something _important_, and you go and, and..." Rei can't even say it. He's too angry. "God I can't believe I ever _trusted _you! All these years–"

"Rei." Kai's never seen him this passionaltly pissed off. "What are you talking about?"

The nekojin looks like he's about to throw up; he looks compleltely disgusted. It's the same face Kai always imagines he'll get if he ever tells Rei how he feels.

"You spineless bastard." The Chinese boy says, voice heavy and dark. He shoves their faces closer together, almost nose-to-nose, and whispers. "You've already taken away my pride. The least you could do is _admit _it." And then Rei growls at him. Kai's never really noticed, but those fangs look pretty sharp.

"Rei..."

"_Go to hell_."

And he's gone, off of Kai's lap, off of their bed, and out of their room.

* * *

Super short! Should only be one or two parts left :] I have an account on fictionpress under "Insomiak" if anyone wants to read some of my original stuff. I'll read yours too, of course. Just ask.

Thanks,

Inso.


	6. Part Six

Part Six

* * *

Three hours later, Rei Kon bursts into Mariah's apartment (she'd moved out of the village a few months ago), anger still eating away at his finger tips. He tells her about Kai cutting off his hair, about knowing it was him because the idiot dropped his cell phone, about how stupid Rei had been to trust him all these years, and about how hurt he feels.

Mariah has to hide her smile.

"That's _terrible_, Rei."

Lee, who had shown up halfway through due to a text message, shakes his head. "Are you sure he did it?"

"Of course it was him," the pink haired nekojin answers, staring at Lee with the utter look of flabbergastation. "Takao, Max, and Kenny would never do something like this."

The captain shakes his head, arms folded and sitting on his sister's bed with his legs crossed. It's his typical 'I'm very wise and thoughtful and deep' position. "I know he's not as friendly as the rest of Rei's team, but he's always respected out traditions."

Mariah laughs. The sunshine is reflecting off the pink walls in her bedroom, giving her skin a weird, rosey look. "You mean like that time he brought Tala's blood-hound to the dinner table?"

"Mariah, that was mostly Takao's fault. And neither of them kn–"

"Or the time he set the chapel on fire?"

"_After _saving us from his grandfather. Anyway, that was an acc–"

"Or when he _forgot _to pick up the _milk _for my _party_?"

"Mariah, that's–"

"And now he's cut off Rei's hair!"

Lee sighs, head hurting. "But the last time he came to our village he let the Elders perform the R–"

"I told you never to bring that up again! Outsiders are _not _suppose to have it done." She points to Rei. "And this is why!"

Rei rubs his eyes, anger fading. He's still mad, of course, but not blindly anymore. Why would Kai do something like this? Had he really been that pissed off about the nekojin missing practice three times? It doesn't make any sense. Usually when the Russian gets mad he goes off on his own to brood, or actually _does _something about it. Something productive. Cutting Rei's hair off is not productive, it's vindictive. It really doesn't make any sense.

But his cell phone had been there, and that's enough to make the nekojin see blood again.

"I'm leaving," Lee says, rising from the bed.

Rei doesn't notice.

* * *

When Kai eventually manages to roll out of bed after being accosted by Rei (and after attesting to have a cold shower, failing miserably, groaning at his hips and getting to know his left hand very well instead), he stomps downstairs into the kitchen. Looking up with tired eyes, he's surprised to find someone new cooking. Someone who should not be within feet of any sort of object that has the potential to burn a building down, let alone actually be allowed to use it.

Going against his natural deep-threaded instinct, he voices his surprise. "Takao?"

The bluenette turns his neck away from the stove, grinning. The bright sun outside silhouettes most of his face. "Mornin' Kai."

"Hn…?" The Russian raises an eye brow.

Takao stares back, clueless. But understanding soon covers his face after Kai points to the frying pan. "Oh. I'm cooking for Max."

_ Yeah, caught that, thanks._ "Why?"

The Japanese boy looks away, back to the eggs. "H-He wanted to sleep in."

Kai rolls his eyes, having a good idea why Max is still in bed. He also, however, knows that Takao doesn't want to talk about it, so he changes the subject. "Rei's gone."

"What!" Takao drops the red spatula, and it crashes to the floor. Drama Queen. "Is he skipping _again_? That's not fair!"

"No." The Russian shakes his head as he sits at the table. "He thinks I cut off his hair; he's angry."

It takes Mister World Champ three minutes to process this. Rei's hair is important to him because of that tradition his parents left him — right. Okay. Got that one. It being cut off would be bad. Next, Rei thinks Kai cut it. Why? Takao hums. Why would Rei think that? Kai just... wouldn't. He's a 'Man of Action' and all that, sure, but he'd never do something so subtle. Kai's no good at subtlety. He either does something or doesn't; none of this in-between crap. If he were mad at the Chinese boy, Kai would be more likely to punch his jaw inside-out than do something sneaky like cutting off his hair. Rei _has _to know that. He's the most observant... hell, Rei's the one who told Takao that Kai is mysterious because he doesn't say much, not because what he says doesn't make sense. That he's an 'all or nothing' kind of guy.

So what the hell?

"_Did _you cut it?" The bluenette asks, despite this thoughts.

Kai feels panic twist itself like a crooked thorn into his stomach. "Why would I? He..." but he can't finish. He folds his arms, glaring at his lap.

"He what?" Takao turns to face his cooking, his back to Kai.

Let's see. He's beautiful, centred, balanced, tranquil, viscous and brave and open and none of that will change just because his hair is gone. So why would he ever cut it? Kai likes Rei's hair, anyway. He can't remember the number of times he's thought about having sex with the younger boy, that thick, black hair falling down his muscled shoulders, white teeth grinning down at him. The reason, of course, Rei had kept it long is much more important (or at least moral) than the Russian's imagination, but he's still almost offended that Rei would even think that he'd cut it off over something as trivial as skipping a few practices. Not that it makes a difference. He can still feel his stomach swell and his head heat up, just at the thought of him. Apparently, he's not as shallow as he believed. Apparently, he doesn't _only _want to have sex with Rei.

Apparently, he actually...

But Kai cuts his thoughts off. "He'll be back."

"You know..." Takao grins, thinking himself a genius. "We could go out and look for him and screw training for today."

Kai smirks, still staring at his lap. "Or you could climb the mountains again."

"They weren't so bad."

Kai isn't looking, but he can practically feel Takao popping his collar. So, being vengeful and tired of his obliviousness, he adds, "With Max."

"Wha–"

"Alone."

"I don't–"

"Shut up, cook, and get your ass outside before nine."

"You're _evil_. I take back everything nice I've ever said about you." Takao grabs some plates from the cupboard.

"You say nice things about me?" Kai pours some coffee. "I'm flattered."

"_Shut up_."

Leaning on the counter, the Russian stares at a wall, assuring himself that he's going to regret saying this. "You need to think about why Max is still in bed."

Takao's face explodes. "You _know_?"

_Seriously_? "We all do..."

"But Max said he didn't tell anyone but me."

"It's not something that needs to be said..."

"What?"

"It's obvious, idiot."

"How? Max hasn't been acting weird, or anything."

"Why would he? You feel the same."

"Feel the same about what?"

Kai cocks an eyebrow. "What did you two do last night?"

Takao grins. "Max was sick, and I, being the best of best friends around, took care of him!"

"Oh."

"What were _you_ talking about?"

Kai takes a seat at the table, blowing his bangs out of his face. "Nothing."

"Okay..." he says, and returns to his cooking.

Max comes down a few seconds later, and Kai catches him staring at Takao's back with big sad eyes. (When the hell did they all decide to start falling for each other like a bunch of weekday morning drama characters?) Kai nods at him as he sits down, wants to ask but can't in present company.

"Morning," the blond says.

There's a knock at the door, and three heads turn at once towards it.

Takao opens the door, thoughtlessly. What if it's some crazy fan? Or the KGB, here to steal them and collect reward money. There are hundred of people who want to hurt them, doesn't Takao know that? What the hell does Max see in this guy?

But as the door swings open, Kai relaxes.

"Good morning," Lee says, standing awkwardly in the doorway. "May I come in?"

Max and Takao both greet him with a typical man-hug, and offer him breakfast. Thanking them profusely and obviously feeling like an intruder, though not one of them thought that, Lee takes a seat.

"So what's up, man?" Takao asks, taking a huge gulp of chocolate milk.

The nekojin looks over at Kai, serious. "I'm actually here to talk to you." A pause. "About Rei." The Russian doesn't respond, as is his nature, but keeps his eyes steady on Lee, who continues. "Did you cut off his hair?"

Without blinking and with a very heavy breath, Kai says, "No."

"Because if you did..."

"I didn't." Lee studies his face for a bit. Kai doesn't look away, wanting the closets friend of the guy he thinks he probably likes too much to trust him. He even repeats himself, louder. "I didn't."

The nekojin's lips tub up in a smile. "Alright. Good."

"Wait wait wait wait wait," Max says, taking a seat next to Kai. "What happened? Why's Rei's hair gone? I thought he had to keep it long until he got married." Shifting a little to face him, Kai explains the whole thing to Max, patiently, using more words then he likes. The blond then smiles softly and says, "Rei will figure out that you didn't do it, and he'll come back. He just needs to cool off."

"Actually," Lee says, and Kai turns to look at him. "He said he found your phone next to the couch when he woke up. So he's convinced you did it."

A new type of fear engulf the Russian then. It's different than anything he's ever felt before. Worse than when Black Dranzer took him over, worse than when his father left, worse than his mother dying, worse than having to grow up in that damn abbey, than when he left it, met his teammates and realized how emotionally screwed up he actually is. Worse than when he stood on that ice, inches from his friends, his will to live wavering.

Or maybe it's just a different kind of fear.

He looks at Lee. "What do I do?"

The nekojin grins.

"Don't worry — _I've_ got a plan."


	7. Part Seven

Part Seven.

* * *

Kai had never known Lee to be so meddlesome in occurrences that are none of his business. The plan, however, did deserve some applause, no matter how deep the leader of the White Tigers is sticking his nose into his best friend's problems. Self-assertion is one of the only ways Kai can relate to Lee, and thus he does not hate it about him - despite disliking having his personal life tampered with by other people. Honestly he'd like to deal with this entire bereavemental situation all alone, but he has no idea how to convince someone as wickedly thick headed as the black haired kitten of his innocence.

He's never had to connivence Rei of much, just that he's not after their bits anymore, and that the triangles on his cheeks are real tattoos. Rei's always been the one encouraging him, telling him to explain to his grandfather where he can stick it, that he knows it's hard _but your dad was an asshole for walking out like that anyway, Kai, just forget him_. Forget him. Rei knocked him out of the grudge he'd been holding against his father for over ten years. With _words_. And maybe a cute little cat grin. Still, Kai is not easily talked out of anything - and though Rei seems to be the one best at doing so, he's more stubborn than Kai by a thousandfold.

But still, he's not sure if Dranzer and himself are exactly up for it.

"Look Kai, it's simple. All you have to do is show up. Max, Takao and I will take care of the rest."

This isn't going to end well, or at least not the way anyone thinks it will, but what choice does he have? Kai can't imagine what he would do if Rei never talked to him again, if he never woke up to that warm feeling he always gets when he rolls over in bed and sees him there, feels him sleeping. One time Kai had had to wake him up early for a match, and Rei had been so unaware of the conscious world he'd rolled away from the other man and mumbled, '_Zao shang hao_.' Kai can only assume at its meaning, but he's never forgotten those word.

"Whatever," he says, and closes his eyes. As embarrassed as this whole plan is going to make him feel, he's going to do it. He has to, or he'll look back one day and realized that not only did he lose someone important to him, again, but he didn't even try not to. He just let it happen. He is never going to just let it happen, not with Rei. "I'll do it."

Lee grins at him and says, "Perfect."

Takao is busy stuffing his face, not paying too much attention.

And Max is standing beside Kai, smiling.

* * *

Doing nothing in particular in Mariah's room is starting to remind Rei of his past. Any moment now he's expecting a five-year-old Mariah to run into the bedroom and ask him if he wants to go swim, or battle, or pick flowers, or wake him up for a meeting. It's not something Rei dislikes remembering, but he has problems with trying to live in the past. What matters is the here and now. Except right here at this exact moment in his life all he can feel is viral rage. If he thinks too much about it, the irrepressibly instinctual urge to go rip Kai's balls off overtakes him and he has to shut is eyes and breathe to remain civil.

It isn't that his hair is gone. Hair is just a bunch of dead cells growing out of his scull, and he doesn't like to be attached to many material things. Partly it's what his hair represented, but the whole mating-tradition of his clan is old and just a custom; he's seen many customs after traveling so much. What really bothers Rei is that it's something his parents asked him to follow, the only thing they asked of him before they were dead. He feels like he's disgraced them. He feels ugly, but not in his appearance. His soul feels twisted. Because they're gone and he'd promised, swore to keep it long until he found a mate, and, and…

Why did Kai do it? Rei can't believe he ever trusted him. Rei is never going to trust him again. Hopefully, he'll never have to see him again either, because he's pretty sure it would result in a whole shit ton of bloody Russian-blader on the floor. The worst part, the absolute _worst_ part of this is that Rei had liked him. He'd honestly and reverently liked him, had dreams about him and thought about doing things with him, half of which weren't even sexual. And these thoughts would happen at unseemly times of the day, like while brushing his teeth or watching Takao whine about doing the dishes. It would've been okay if Kai only hadn't liked him back. It would've hurt, but Rei would've been alright, would have gotten over it and kept their friendship as just that. But no. Instead, the Russian had stuck a cold hand into his chest, tore out his heart and dropped it down a three-hundred storey building where it fell and was pierced by lightning while seagulls pecked at it until it hit the ground with a thick, low, slimy, _smack_.

And what makes it even more awful is that despite how degenerate his spirt feels, despite insulting his parents' memory, despite the loud pounding in his abdomen and being betrayed like a useless piece of garbage, Rei still likes him. How could he not? The grovelling in his heart speaks volumes about it. Becoming so affected by something Kai's done… it's obvious how Rei feels.

Like _hell_ he's going to let it control him, though. He's not some dog. His love his not unconditional. If Kai's actually this much of an asshole, then Rei doesn't want anything to do with him. Regardless of how much it-

His phone rings. With a tired sigh, he answers. "Hello?"

"Rei? It's Lee."

"Hey," he says, falling back onto Mariah's bed.

"How're you feeling?"

"Alright."

The older blader laughs, though Rei doesn't see the humour in any of this. "Well, I think I know something that'll make you feel better…"

"Yeah? What?"

"You remember that old restaurant we went to as kids? When they'd let us leave the village?" Rei hums a yes. "I'm taking you there tonight."

"No thanks."

"Ha." Lee's voice is bright. Rei wants to strangle it. "Like you have a choice. I'll be there in an hour."

And with a beep the line is cut, leaving Rei alone.

* * *

After Lee, Takao, and Kyouju exit the cabin to go initiate they're ingenious plan, Kai takes a seat across from Max. He looks fixedly at him, not wavering. It's a questioning look with a little disappointment added, because Kai doesn't want to have to say anything to get his point across.

Max folds his arms and pouts. "_What_?"

Kai continues staring at him.

"Stop it."

Keeps staring, folding his own arms.

"Seriously, stop."

He leans back in his chair, waiting.

"Would you quit it⁈" Max snaps, widening Kai's eyes. Then the blond slams his head on the table pathetically, obviously anxious and tired. "What was I supposed to do? He came into my room and sat on my bed and asked me what was wrong and I wanted to tell him, I was going to tell him, I kept thinking to myself Max, this is stupid, he's too much of an idiot to think you're gross or weird or whatever so just _say_ it, but…" Pausing, Max reaches around his head, holding it and sound physically sunken in his memory. "But then he opened his big fat mouth."

When he doesn't continue, Kai finally speaks up. "What did he say?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Tell me."

The blond lifts his head up, but doesn't look the other boy in the eyes. "He started going off about some American girl he dated last year. He told me she was his favourite girlfriend. That he loved everything about her. I mean, I know he likes girl and stuff, but hearing about how amazing his ex is… I couldn't…" And he slams his head back into the table. "I tried to tell him, but he wouldn't stop talking about women, and I then he got really close to - to my face, I, I don't know _why_... and I pushed him away and told him I wasn't feeling so good."

Kai rubs his temples. Takao has the emotional capabilities of earwax. Likely what he'd been trying to do was reassure Max that his half-American ethnicity doesn't bother him, or anyone on the team, because that's what Rei had said was probably wrong. But all he'd managed to do is make it worse, as is typical of the food-machine. Kai believes, however, that it's up to Takao and Max to sort through these things, so he isn't going to tell Max any of it. What he is going to do, though, is force them to train together. A lot. Until something slips or Takao is too tired to use his windpipe to do anything more than breathe.

"I really don't know what you see in him…"

"Me either," Max says, rubbing his eyes. "It just happened. When we were younger, I don't know… he…" But the blader trails off. "I really don't know."

Kai sighs. "Yeah." He wants to be more helpful, but he's not good at it.

"Well, anyway…" Max sits up, apparently comfortable with Kai's inability to provide verbal support, and sends him an annoyingly all-knowing bright wink. "You excited for tonight?"

He throws a napkin at the blond, rolling his eyes. This plan isn't going to work, but what other choice does he have?


End file.
